Korean official meet in NY, prepare for summit

In remarks to reporters after a meeting on Thursday in NY with Kim Yong-chol, one of Kim Jong-un's most trusted advisers, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo emphasized the security that the North could derive if it agreed to denuclearize.

Kim Yong Chol, the North Korean leader's top aide, is the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the United States in 18 years, and his trip to the White House will be a highly symbolic sign of easing tensions after fears of war escalated amid North Korean nuclear and missile tests last year.

The two leaders are scheduled to meet on June 12 in Singapore to negotiate terms of North Korea's denuclearisation.

"I look forward to the day I can take the sanctions off North Korea", Trump added.

Trump was meeting in the Oval Office with Kim's envoy, Kim Yong Chol, a former spy chief and now the country's top nuclear negotiator. But since then, planning discussions have resumed, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's high-level meetings this week in NY with the North Korean official.

Pompeo spoke after meeting with Kim Yong-chol for a little more than two hours at the residence of the deputy USA ambassador to the United Nations.

The president reiterated that he had no plans to sign anything on June 12, but added that he looked forward to lifting economic sanctions now imposed on North Korea.

Pompeo said that after a series of meetings he believes the talks are going in "the right direction".

Lavrov invited Kim to Russian Federation, and called for a phased approach to denuclearization, including easing of global sanctions on North Korea.

The US secretary of state, who spoke with Trump on Wednesday night (Thursday NZT) and with National Security Adviser John Bolton early Thursday (Friday NZT), was accompanied by Andrew Kim, the head of a Central Intelligence Agency unit assigned to work on North Korea, and Mark Lambert, the head of the State Department's Korea desk. He said he had just met with Kim Yong Chol, North Korea's top nuclear weapons negotiator.

Upon arrival in NY, the former spy chief was escorted out of the airport by U.S. State Department officials, according to a North Korean official who spoke to reporters waiting for his arrival.

Asked whether the answer would come on Friday in the letter, Pompeo said he did not know but added "we have made real progress in the last 72 hours toward setting the conditions".

On Sunday, officials from North Korea and the US met for talks at the "truce village" in the Demilitarized Zone that separates the Korean Peninsula. "It's hard to envision a scenario, in which Kim Jong-un would be satisfied with any security guarantees that the USA might offer in exchange for giving up nuclear weapons", he said.

Trump said he had not yet read leader Kim's letter.

The North Korean official is carrying a letter to Trump from Kim Jong Un.

USA defense and intelligence officials have repeatedly assessed the North to be on the threshold of having the capability to strike anywhere in the continental US with a nuclear-tipped missile - a capacity that Trump and other USA officials have said they would not tolerate.

Russia's Foreign Minister has called for sanctions on North Korea to be lifted and invited Kim Jong-un for a meeting in Moscow as he met with the dictator in Pyongyang on Thursday.

North Korea has made advances in missile technology in recent years but Trump has sworn not to allow it to develop nuclear missiles that could hit the United States.

The meetings are working toward a planned denuclearisation summit between Mr Trump and Mr Kim - an event hailed as a pivotal shift in tensions following North Korean nuclear tests a year ago.

"I told them, take your time".

This Reuters photo shows Kim Yong-chol, a vice chairman of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, arriving at his hotel in NY on May 30, 2018.

RELATED NEWS

Trump announces pardon of conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza
Trump and Comey have traded barbs on Twitter and in public comments for the past year. "Hope", she said in a written statement . D'Souza in 2012 released an anti-Obama film, " 2016: Obama's America ", based on his 2010 book, " The Roots of Obama's Rage ". 6/02/2018

The rule Meghan will hate most
But any campaigning for women's rights will also need to avoid being political, a fine line Meghan has already struggled to walk. Life as Meghan Markle knows it has changed forever following her widely celebrated marriage to Prince Harry earlier this month. 6/01/2018

Google is said to plan Pixel upgrades, seeking iPhone challenger
This, in comparison to the 216 million units that Apple shipped during the same period is very alarming and a pale figure indeed. In the notch area, there are three round holes - possibly for two cameras, a 3D Face unlock sensor and an ambient light sensor. 6/01/2018

Fallout 76 might be an 'online survival RPG' like DayZ or Rust
Fallout 76 appears to be set in 2102, 25 years after the Great War which means it would be the earliest in Fallout's timeline. It's not yet clear what kind of game Fallout 76 will be, or which of Bethesda's studios has been involved in developing it. 6/01/2018

Trump to pardon Dinesh D'Souza
Trump announced Thursday in a tweet that he plans to pardon D'Souza because of his "unfair" treatment by the Obama administration. This is relevant because ex-wife also took issue with what she saw as D'Souza's two-faced handling of his conviction. 5/31/2018

Trump to Disney CEO: 'Where is my apology?'
The network - indeed all of broadcast television - needed some successful comedies. President Donald Trump has broken his silence on the cancellation of "Roseanne ". 5/31/2018

Russian foreign minister to head to North Korea
The dispute over the islands has prevented Japan and Russian Federation from formally signing a peace treaty ending World War II. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "They plan to have additional meetings this week" at the border area of Panmunjom. 5/31/2018

Militants attack Afghan ministry with bomb, grenades and gunfire
Under surveillance by the Marines, the Taliban fighters returned to their Helmand stronghold, a center for poppy cultivation. It appeared to be a rare victory for Afghan security forces, who have struggled to secure the capital in recent months. 5/31/2018

LeBron James Questioned Whether Cavs Would Make the Playoffs
Throughout the season we saw superstars shoulder the load carry their team, deliver game winners and come through when it counted. And with the postseason coming down to crunch time, we get to see big time players produce in big time spots. 5/31/2018